Avoid Delta and Atlanta

In article .net,
Hilary wrote:

Did you read my post? These fares are available to anyone with a
credit card. I typed in Glasgow to Orlando into a random UK travel site
(www.flights4less.co.uk), and the tickets for travel in August 2006
(August 1 through 14, presumably peak season for travel from Scotland
to Florida) are cheaper than the tickets for April 1-14.

It is classified as peak season, but not peak season for travel - most
families wanted to travel earlier to avoid higher costs everywhere.
Fewer people wanted GLA-MCO in August. They wanted to fly out end of
June. That's the peak *travel* period.

Look, dear, I can't look up fares for next June because they aren't
out yet. But I am positive that they will be lower in the fall and
winter than when they are first published next month.

Qantas has every date between Dec 20 and Dec 23 available for $1900
roundtrip or so. Pricey, of course, but it's the lowest published
fare for these dates.

Exactly. It's pricey *because* the cheaper consolidated fares have gone.

Nonsense. I simply posted the fares from qantas.com, which obviously
doesn't have consolidated fares. Consolidated fares are plentifully
available - I just did a quick search on airlineconsolidator.com
(they are far from the cheapest, but one of the few that have their
inventory online), and they are selling LAX-SYD tickets for these
dates hundreds of dollars under the lowest published fare.

If I really needed to fly from LAX to SYD, I'd get on the phone, call
up a dozen consolidators from the travel pages of LA Times, and would
have bought a much cheaper ticket than someone who is foolish enough
to book 12 months in advance.

Bottom line: some people are not very savvy. Airlines love them.
They buy their tickets 12 months in advance the same way they buy
extended warranties and paint protection for their cars, dotcom stocks
(``before they go up in price''), duty-free perfumes, etc. Their
agent told them it's a good deal, so it's got to be a good deal

In article , nobody wrote:

Qantas has every date between Dec 20 and Dec 23 available for $1900
roundtrip or so. Pricey, of course, but it's the lowest published
fare for these dates. Consolidators seem to have the same dates for
less on UA.

How do you know they are the lowest published fares for those dates ?

Looked up published fares for next December in Travelocity.

Are you 100% sure that whatever web site you are using isn't filtering
out fares that are no longer available ?

Yes, I am 100% sure that Travelocity is not filtering out fares that
are no longer available. Of course, these are *published* fares.
For consolidated fares, I'd have to call up a bunch of consolidators,
and it's just too much of a hassle. Sorry.

A different example: this spring, a ferry, the Queen of the North sank
in BC. BF Ferries is stuck with only one ship capable of doing this open
water run through the inside passage, down from 2, and that ship has
less capacity than the QofN. Right now, there is no available space in
September because as soon as it happened, tour operators booked all
available space on all sailings to keep their options opened, and BC
Ferries is now working with them to release seats the tour operators
won't be using on a week by week basis. Those who had booked as soon as
the new schedules were announced would have had assured place on the
date of their choice. Thos who didn't will have to wait until probablty
a few weeks before their sailing time to get a confirmation and this may
wreck their plans.

And the relevance of this is... what exactly? You are comparing a
ferry operator with one ship capable of doing ``this open water run
through the inside passage'' (whatever that is) with London-Australia
routes that have a dozen major operators with a fleet of 747s?

"John" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:21:17 GMT, "bunny"
wrote:


"Hilary" wrote

And it seems that most people don't want to check prices every day for
months just in case they can save a tenner or so.

This is true. And for those who are willing to check prices frequently --
I
don't know what all airlines do, but with United, if you buy a fare and
then
you see it go down, call United and ask them to give you a travel voucher
for the difference. Don't other airlines do this as well? I only know
about United because that's the airline I worked for. I wouldn't hesitate
to book early on United because I know if the fare goes down I can get the
difference back to apply to future travel.


I want to get the lower price posted for the flight i am taking--not a
future trip.

Every time I have found a lower price they tell me --sorry all the
tickets at that price are sold out for your flight.

Even if I call the minute the lower price it listed I still get the
same line.

That doesn't have anything to do with what I posted. I posted about a
guarantee that if the particular fare that I purchase goes down, I can get a
travel voucher back for the difference. If I purchase that fare today for
$400, and it goes down to $350, I can get a travel voucher back for $50.

As for what you posted, I don't know what you mean by lowest price posted.
Everyone wants to pay no more than the cheapest seat on the plane costs.
The first people to book it get it, and that's just the way the universe
works in the land of limited supply.

In article om,
wrote:

Quite often holiday plans need to be submitted to employers a year in
advance at the beginning of the 'holiday year' - if only to ensure adequate
work cover throughout the year.

Wow, that's pretty harsh! I'll try to remember this next time somebody
brings up how horrible vacation policies are in the US

And you think it's different in the US?

It's not? Now you are telling me!

There are many people who
have to plan their vacations up to a year in advance.

Dammit! I thought you waltz up to your boss, tell him you'll be off
to the South Pacific as of tomorrow, back in a couple of months or so.
So this is *not* how it works in the US?

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 19:17:59 GMT, "bunny"
wrote:


"John" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:21:17 GMT, "bunny"
wrote:


"Hilary" wrote

And it seems that most people don't want to check prices every day for
months just in case they can save a tenner or so.

This is true. And for those who are willing to check prices frequently --
I
don't know what all airlines do, but with United, if you buy a fare and
then
you see it go down, call United and ask them to give you a travel voucher
for the difference. Don't other airlines do this as well? I only know
about United because that's the airline I worked for. I wouldn't hesitate
to book early on United because I know if the fare goes down I can get the
difference back to apply to future travel.


I want to get the lower price posted for the flight i am taking--not a
future trip.

Every time I have found a lower price they tell me --sorry all the
tickets at that price are sold out for your flight.

Even if I call the minute the lower price it listed I still get the
same line.

That doesn't have anything to do with what I posted. I posted about a
guarantee that if the particular fare that I purchase goes down, I can get a
travel voucher back for the difference. If I purchase that fare today for
$400, and it goes down to $350, I can get a travel voucher back for $50.

As for what you posted, I don't know what you mean by lowest price posted.
Everyone wants to pay no more than the cheapest seat on the plane costs.
The first people to book it get it, and that's just the way the universe
works in the land of limited supply.


Let me explain it to you.

I have purchased a ticket.

I then check EVERY day (maybe several times a day)) for a lower fare
for that airline.

When I immediately contact the airline I am told there are no seats
available for that price on the flight I am taking.

what a coincidence!!

I wonder how many seats they had on that plane at the lower price?
one? two?


What exactly are the FINE details for using the travel voucher?

Where is the description on the UAL site that details the "find a
lower fare--get a travel voucher?

VS wrote:
And the relevance of this is... what exactly? You are comparing a
ferry operator with one ship capable of doing ``this open water run
through the inside passage'' (whatever that is) with London-Australia
routes that have a dozen major operators with a fleet of 747s?


This is relevant. For a highly coveted travel date, there is only a
limited capacity of real hard seats on aircraft. And airlines only make
a small percentage available at a low rate. And whenever actaul capacity
is limited on a specific travel date, then you need to handle the ticket
purchasing differently.

In the USA, there has been overcapacity, too many aircraft, too many
flights and that means that US airlines rans flights with unsold seats.
So it became expected to see seat sales during off-peak season. But it
doesn't work that way everywhere else in the world.

Say Delta unions were serious about a strike starting August 1. Would
you wait before buying a Continental ticket hoping to see a seat sale
appear for travel in early August ? Ain't going to happen because the
threath of shutting down of Delta would mean new reservations would go
to the other airlines and likely fill available capacity even before
Delta would shutdown. Forget seat sale and even if you were willing to
pay for business/first, you might find it hard to get a seat on the
flighst you wanted.

And for specific dates where you know that there are never any seat
sales, then it is best to get your tickets early to ensure you can draw
from the restricted inventory of the cheaper seats.

"Rog'" wrote in message
...
"Stan de SD" wrote:
DL seems to have this idea that nobody would ever wish to SLEEP
while traveling with them. Passengers on their SJC-ATL red-eye are
subject to movies and in-flight video "entertainment" through mostt...

God forbid that an airline should actually provide entertainment for
insomniacs, who would alternatively, complain about the lack of same.

God forbid that people should learn how to entertain themselves (ever heard
of books?) instead of inconveniencing a majority that would prefer to SLEEP.

... the vast majority are pulling blankets over their heads and
trying to shield their eyes from the flickering screen.

Ever hear of eye-shades or dark glasses?

Why in the hell should I have to impersonate Roy Orbison on an airline
flight?

No chance of grabbing any naps while connecting at ATL either - all
the terminals are brightly lit 7/24, have repeated announcements over
the PA, muzak and TV's blaring around the clock...

Perhaps they do not want you to sleep thru the boarding of your
next flight?

Never had that problem in 25 years of flying, either as a crewmember or a
passenger.

Stan de SD wrote:
Ever hear of eye-shades or dark glasses?

Why in the hell should I have to impersonate Roy Orbison on an airline
flight?


This is actually a difficult question.

On a 12 hour flight that is overnight, it would be expected to see the
aircraft cabin in a "nighttime" setting so you don't have to have
eyeshades or be woken up to be asked to fill forms etc.

But on a 4 hour transcontinental flight that lands in daylight it isn't
as opbvious on whether it is wrth moving cabin into "nighttime" mode.
Consider you need probably 1 hour from takeoff until you can turn down
lights, and definitely 1 hours before landing. So in the end, you'd only
have 2 hours of darkness.

Personally, on such a flight, they should turn down the lights at
takeoff and leave them down until aircraft begins its descent to the
destination. Someone can always turn on the individual reading lights
if they wish to remain awake for the duration of the flight.

"John" wrote


Let me explain it to you.

I have purchased a ticket.

I then check EVERY day (maybe several times a day)) for a lower fare
for that airline.

When I immediately contact the airline I am told there are no seats
available for that price on the flight I am taking.

what a coincidence!!

I wonder how many seats they had on that plane at the lower price?
one? two?


What exactly are the FINE details for using the travel voucher?

Where is the description on the UAL site that details the "find a
lower fare--get a travel voucher?

No, you are talking about something else entirely. Obviously an airline
isn't going to give you a blanket guarantee that if you "find a lower fare"
you get a travel voucher. The guarantee is regarding the fare for the
ticket that you already purchased. If you purchased a fare basis code V
fare and the price for that V fare you paid was $250, but then the price of
that same V fare goes down to $220, you can contact UA and get a travel
voucher for the difference. If you do not understand what I am saying, you
can call UA res and ask them to explain it to you, and you can see whether
it's anything you can use, if it's something you want to look into. The
reason I brought it up in the first place is because in my experience, a lot
of customers aren't aware they've got that option, and if it can save
someone money, I'd like to see them be able to save that money.

United res that you call on the phone and the UAL website are two different
things, run by two different entities. Questions about the website need to
go to their tech support. United res isn't even connected to the internet,
isn't trained in anything having to do with the website, and can't see
anything that goes on on the internet. Sorry I can't help you there.

On Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:09:13 GMT, "bunny"
wrote:


"John" wrote


Let me explain it to you.

I have purchased a ticket.

I then check EVERY day (maybe several times a day)) for a lower fare
for that airline.

When I immediately contact the airline I am told there are no seats
available for that price on the flight I am taking.

what a coincidence!!

I wonder how many seats they had on that plane at the lower price?
one? two?


What exactly are the FINE details for using the travel voucher?

Where is the description on the UAL site that details the "find a
lower fare--get a travel voucher?

No, you are talking about something else entirely. Obviously an airline
isn't going to give you a blanket guarantee that if you "find a lower fare"
you get a travel voucher. The guarantee is regarding the fare for the
ticket that you already purchased. If you purchased a fare basis code V
fare and the price for that V fare you paid was $250, but then the price of
that same V fare goes down to $220, you can contact UA and get a travel
voucher for the difference.

Is this described anywhere on the UAL site?


If you do not understand what I am saying, you
can call UA res and ask them to explain it to you, and you can see whether
it's anything you can use, if it's something you want to look into. The
reason I brought it up in the first place is because in my experience, a lot
of customers aren't aware they've got that option, and if it can save
someone money, I'd like to see them be able to save that money.

United res that you call on the phone and the UAL website are two different
things, run by two different entities. Questions about the website need to
go to their tech support.

Why should I go to tech support?

I don't have a technical problem with the UAL web site.

I am talking CONTENT.



United res isn't even connected to the internet,
isn't trained in anything having to do with the website, and can't see
anything that goes on on the internet. Sorry I can't help you there.



Again, I repeat:

Where is the description on the UAL site that details the "find a
lower fare--get a travel voucher?

If this is such a wonderful feature that UAL offers to their customers
why can't you point out where on the UAL web site UAL describes fully
the details for use of this travel voucher?